Gainesville State College is a state college of the University System of Georgia serving northeast Georgia since 1964. The Gainesville State College Gainesville Campus, located 45 miles northeast of Atlanta and six miles southwest of downtown Gainesville in Oakwood, is on Georgia State Route 53 less than a mile from I-985 exit 16. The Gainesville State College Oconee Campus is located on Bishop Farms Parkway in Watkinsville, Georgia. Students are drawn primarily from the increasingly diverse northeast Georgia area.

On January 10, 2012, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the merger of the school with North Georgia College and State University, which took effect in January 2013. The new combined school will be called the University of North Georgia. It is not anticipated that any of either schools' current campuses will close.